Using social indicators for decision-making corrupts them and the processes they monitor.
Campbell stated it in 1976. Standardised testing is the canonical case: once scores determine funding, teaching narrows to the test and the score stops measuring learning.
In practice
- A university department told that graduate employment determines funding begins counting six-month internships as employment.
- A police force measured on response times logs the arrival of the first car and lets the second-arriving specialist go uncounted.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Economics & Incentives
- Essay
- The regularities money obeys